Article support



Au 15, 1 944. T. WHALEN "ARTICLE SUPPORT Original Filed Sept. 29, 1958 '2 sheets-she t '1 III. will/1.1m

v lNVENTOR.-' Ja/m TIM/mien 1 Q A2 roRNEYs Aug. 15, 1944. J, T. WHALREN ARTICLE SUPPORT V Qri'ginal Filed Sept. 29,1958

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR J56 Tit bale. BY H a z 7 ATI'ORNEYS Patented Aug. 15, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ARTICLE SUPPORT John T. Whalcn, New York,N. Y.

Original application September 29, 1938, Serial No.

232,321. Divided and this application May 25, 1942, Serial No. 444,300

4 Claims.

The invention relates to new and useful improvements in devices for supporting articles of widely varying kinds and descriptions for various purposes, as for drying or' display, and more particularly to such improvements in devices especially adapted to individually support various ar- 1 application Serial No. 232,321 filed September 29,

Objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part hereinafter and in part will be obvious herefrom, or may be learned by practice with the invention, the same being realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations pointed out in the appended I claims.

The invention consists in the novel parts, constructions, andarrangements, combinations and improvements herein shown and described.

The accompanying drawings, referred to herein and constituting a part hereof, illustrate various embodiments of the invention, and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

, Of the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the invention in connection with a wall towel rack;

mon domestic devices, which may be of approximately conventional or standard form, and which do not require increase in the size or bulk or the appearance of such articles, and do not in any wise impair their usual uses, as for example incorporating garment-drying facilities of fairly extensive capacity with an ordinary towel rack, the drying devices being storable there-within when not in use; or the incorporation of such devices with a roller towel bracket, and providing for withdrawal and inclusion thereof within the bracket and towel roll when not in use; to provide relatively very extensixe garment drying facilities especially adapted for compact or constricted living quarters, such as are currently common, embodied in economical, simple and compact devices which are readily attachable to and detachable from room structures or furniture, and are portable and sightly, being especially useful for persons wishing to do washing and refreshing of garments in their constricted living quarters; to provide article display devices for commercial use having extraordinarily wide and varied displaying facilities, likewise of simple, sturdy and very compact structure, the extensive and varied display facilities being capacitated to meet the Wide range of requirements for varied and artistic commercial display, such as are necessary, for example, in the display of personal wear for both women and men, while obviating the expenditurenormally required fora very large number of display devices of different kinds,

Figure 2 is "a fragmentary central section through Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a horizontal section through Figure l, but showing the device closed;

Figure 4 is a plan View, showing the device mounted in a wash stand;

Figure 5 is a side elevation looking at Figure 4 from the front;

Figure 6, is a fragmentary vertical section, on

an enlarged scale, on line 66 of Figure 4.

The invention is directed to providing extensive and Varied article-supporting facilities for purposes of commercial display, domestic drying, and the like, within unusually, small compass, the means or devices being of simple, sturdy, reliable and exceedingly compact structure and arrangement, and usually having only the bulk and appearance of similar devices which are now.in

use but which have only a fraction of the drying,

or display facilities of those provided by the present invention; to provide, article-supporting 'facilities'for garment drying and the 1ik e, having advantages of the character described, which are incorpcrable into and enclosable within com- 7 venience, space economy, and appearance.

and at the same time obviating the storage and handling of the great number of devices that would be otherwise required. :Referring now in detail to the embodiment of .the invention illustrated by way of example in supporting bar of the towel rack. The casing I is supported in apertured metal brackets 5 and 6, which are carried, respectively, on the rods l and 8, fixed in plates 9 and in Which are screwed to the room wall H. Within thecasingl is a ,parrier I6, slidable within the casing, and a plurality of article-supporting arms areflmounted upon the carrier 16. The sheath or casing l and-' the;carrier, [6 are preferably. both of corresupporting arms 2| and in like manner a plurality of article-supporting arms 22 arepivotally mounted on the bearing 20. These arms may be of various forms, and two such forms are shown in Figures 1 to 3, one form having at one end a closed ring which encircles the pivot ring, another iorm being shown as an elongated narrow loop, and this form may be pivoted about one of its ends, or it may be pushed back so as to have part of its length at either side of its pivot.

The carrier [6 is slidable within the casing or sheath l for approximately the entire length of the casing, and when it is in the projected position of Figures 1 and 2, the bearings for the supporting arms are exterior to the sheath of casing i, and the article supporting arms 2| and 22 are disposable in general fan-wise position about their pivot. When the carrier [6 is slid inwardly through the casing l, the arms 2! and 22 are brought into side-by-side position within the casing. A- hand knob or other suitable device 23 is provided which remains outside the sheath I and may be used to draw the carrier it from the retracted position of Figure 3 to the projecting position of Figures 1 and 2 and to push the carrier and supports back. This hand piece or knob 23 may be fixed to one of the supporting arms 22, which is made longer for this purpose. The opposite end of the carrier I6 may likewise be finished as a corresponding ornamental knob 23, and when the device is in the closed position of Figure 3 these knobs provide an attractive appearing finish at either end of the towel rack. Means are provided for accurately positioning the carrier [6 when in the projected position (Figures 1 and 2) and to this end a spring ball clutch 25 is mounted in the carrier l5 and cof operates with a suitable detent in the sheath, as shown in Figure 2. An illustrative adaptation ofthis form of the invention to a wash stand is shownin Figures 4, 5 and 6 of the drawings. The construction of the device itself is substantially the same as shown' in Figures 1, 2 and v3 but the sheath lis mounted in the finishing flanges of the wash stand at either side of the basin and the inner end is nested in a socket form in the structure of the stand.

The invention in certain of its aspects is especially applicable to display devices, such as are used for example in show cases, show Windows and the like, to display wearing apparel, or other articles, and provides a compact and attractive unit of this type having extraordinarily extensive and varied means and facilities particularly 1 ent that these may be very widely amplified and added to. r

. The invention in its broader-aspects is not limited to the specific mechanisms shown and described but departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the accompanying claims without sacrificing its chief advantages.

What I claim is:

1. The combination with a household fixture, a rack for supporting articles, consisting of a horizontally disposed sheath formedin said fixture and supported adjacent each end, a carrier horizontally slidable and enclosable in said sheath, said carrier being provided at one end with longitudinally extending top and bottom plates a vertically disposed pivot bearing mounted therebetween and a plurality of supporting arms pivotally mounted in superposed relation on said bearing, said carrier being variably positionable with respect to .the sheath so as to position the pivot bearing externally to the sheath with the supporting arms disposable in horizontal fanned out position or with the supporting arms side by side longitudinally within the sheath,

2. The combination with a household fixture, a rack for supporting articles, consisting of a horizontally disposed sheath formed in said fixture and supported adjacent each end, a carrier horizontally slidable within the sheath but not rotatable relative tothe sheath, said carrier provided at one end with longitudinally extending top and bottom plates having a vertical pivot bearing disposed therebetween, a plurality of supporting arms pivoted on said bearing, locking means operating automatically to position the carrier in the sheath with the arms exterior to the sheath and disposable in fanned out position.

3. The combination with a household fixture, a rack for supporting articles, consisting of a horizontally disposed sheath formed in said fixture and supported adjacent each end, a carrier slidably enclosable in said sheath, said carrier being provided at one end with longitudinally extending top! and bottom plates between which a plurality of supporting arms are pivotally mounted on a vertical pivot, the opposite end of said carrier being of ornamental configuration, a handle, attached to one of the supporting arms for extending and retracting said carrier and supporting arms in the sheath, said handle being "also of ornamental configuration, said handle 50 and ornamental end of said carrier coacting to provide ornamental ends for said fixture when the carrier and supporting arms are in the retracted position.

4. The combination with a; wash-stand, a rack for supporting articles consisting of a horizontally disposed sheath supported adjacent each end, said sheath having an .open end formed between the inner confines of the downwardly extending flanges ofsaid wash-stand, one of said flanges beingprovided with an aperture for receiving the open end of said sheath, means on the other of said flangesfor supporting the opposite end of said sheath, a carrier slidable in said sheath, said carrier being provided at one end with longitudinally extending top and bottom plates-between which a plurality of supporting arms are pivotally mounted in superposed relation on a vertical pivot, said carrier being variably positionable with respect to said sheath so as to position'the supporting arms externally of the sheath disposable in fanned out horizontal position, or with the supporting arms side by side longitudinally within the sheath.

i JOHN T. WHALEN. 

